Mendon-Upton students take part in coding initiative

Tuesday

Jan 7, 2014 at 9:50 PMJan 7, 2014 at 9:50 PM

By Mike GleasonDaily News Staff

More than 300 Mendon-Upton Regional School District students took part in last month's nationwide "Hour of Code" effort, meant to encourage youths to get involved with computer programming.District officials spoke about the students' participation at the School Committee meeting Monday night, saying that the demand for technology workers outstrips supply."We're surrounded by technology, but the number of students actually going into computer science is very small," said Superintendent Joseph Maruszczak. "It's estimated that, in the year 2020, there will be one million more jobs than qualified applicants in the computer science fields."Miscoe Hill Middle School Principal Ann Meyer said the district's participation in the program was part of a larger effort to encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) study among its students."What we try to do at Miscoe is bring opportunities to students, so they can understand what the opportunities are," she said, adding that the district has partnered with such organizations as Tufts Medical Center, Intel and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.Meyer said coding can provide benefits to students in ways that aren't immediately obvious."When you do coding, it really structures the mind logically," she said. "What (this program) is trying to do is take the intimidation factor out of it."Several students spoke to the committee about the coding effort while another used her iPad to demonstrate the application - directing an "angry bird" (from the eponymous mobile-phone game) around the screen using a variety of drag-and-drop commands."Most of the students went through all the levels," Meyer said. "They're excited for it and waiting for more."According to Meyer, the program was also a success across the country, saying the initial vision was for 10 million students to participate in the hour. She said approximately 21 million did so.Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleason@wickedlocal.com. For news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @MGleason_MDN.

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